Premier League strugglers Everton and Norwich City may be potential destinations for Queens Park Rangers defender Rob Dickie, former Loftus Road favourite Kevin Gallen tells the West London Sport podcast.
It seems only a matter of time before the former Oxford United talisman is spraying those 60-yard diagonals across top-flight turf.
Dickie, after all, is not only a 6ft 4ins defensive colossus, he is also just as comfortable starting attacks as he is stopping them.
Those marauding runs out from the back have become Dickie’s trademark in West London. And, at 26, he has plenty of time on his side too. In short, QPR’s £1.8 million man mountain ticks almost every single box for a Premier League club looking for an affordable centre-half.
Is Rob Dickie ready for the Premier League?
“I don’t think that’s a problem, selling Rob Dickie,” says Gallen. “Because if that money is then reinvested to make the actual squad and team better, I think that’s a good thing.
“Dickie could go to, like, an Everton if they get relegated. Even a Norwich. They’ve got Premier League money, parachute money. They’ve got money to spend.
“He’s got a good seven or eight years left in him so he’s not really high risk. If you’re signing Dickie for £10m, it’s not a high risk signing because you know what you’re going to get. Solid defender, good on the ball, good attitude.
“It’s just a good, solid signing if a team has that sort of money. Even if he goes to a mid-table club in the Premier League and they say ‘you’re a backup’.”
Dickie, who’s been compared to a Leicester City-era Harry Maguire due to his rampaging style and formidable frame, has already been linked with a number of top-flight clubs in recent times, including Leeds United, Southampton and West Ham United.
90Min reported in February that The Hammers, Europa League semi-finalists under David Moyes, believe Dickie can follow in the footsteps of fellow Championship imports Craig Dawson, Said Benrahma and the effervescent Jarrod Bowen.
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“Obviously we want to keep our prize assets,” QPR director Les Ferdinand said recently.
“I don’t want to sell (our best players). I didn’t want to sell (Ebere) Eze because I felt, with Eze in the side this season, we’d have a better chance of getting promoted. But the money was too good for us to turn down.
“So the situation is, if the right offer comes in for a player, we have to sell.”
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